James can be reached at TwinFreaks CrossFit, where he is an owner and trainer. James coaches barbell lifting classes and CrossFit classes. Contact him by email at james@twinfreakscrossfit.com or by phone at 720-204-2631.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Karl Marx didn't Train

There was a time, not so long ago really, when I would have claimed to be a Green-Socialist. Over time I learn and evolve, which can happen at a fast rate for me since I spend a vast amount of my free time at the public library reading on an array of subjects, often including economics. I've seen that capitalism is the best of all the imperfect systems, and that it might not even kill us off early if it's intelligently regulated. In sum then, if you're a Democrat, I'm a liberal, and if you're a Republican, I'm still a Socialist.

If I understand Marx and his ilk correctly, the problem is just that under Capitalism assholes are going to exploit non-assholes, and remember the environment is a non-asshole, for their own gain. Uncle Karl apparently got this idea hanging out in English textile mills, which I gather were not much different than some of the contemporary factories I have worked in that made me a young Socialist.

The thing is just this: if Uncle Karl had spent his time in the gym, or in the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu academy he wouldn't have bothered writing any manifestos.

Unlike in so many other environments, assholes don't thrive in the gym or the academy. In Fact, they don't even last. You might occasionally meet one, but if you stay with it a week or two, or maybe a couple months in an extreme case, he'll be gone. You can go in and be yourself without any central planning or regulation to protect you.

You, not the asshole, will thrive.

Over time your own experience will convince you I'm correct here, but this wouldn't really be a post without my personal experience, so I'll offer a couple anecdotes.

Let's just say I'm not a rich guy, and at times lately I could much better be described as poor. I had decided I could no longer afford BJJ, and after I had been gone a month the good people at Dark Horse BJJ contacted me, asked what the problem was, and provided a solution. Without going into detail, let's say I'm now creatively financed. This all happened, I'm sure, because I'm viewed in the academy as a team member and not an exploitable resource.

Now to be sure, some of my income gap, let's call it, is caused by my desire to run my own gym. I can't very well get any kind of normal job and still put in the time and effort I think my own team deserves. So, much of the time when I'm between library books, I think how nice it would be to have a high-paying, part time job with flexible hours and benefits. Unfortunately, you can't - or I should say I haven't - been able to find any such thing on any of the Internet job sites, so obviously print media isn't going to help.

I was beginning to think that perhaps there were no jobs meeting my criteria, when I was surprised to get an e-mail saying in effect, "James, send me a current resume. My company has an opening for a high-paying part time job with flexible hours and benefits."

What didn't surprise me is that the e-mail was from a young man I cut my training teeth on a few years ago. I taught him the Big Three and put him on a simple 5x5, and I guess he thought it was time to try paying me back. I'm not sure if I'll actually get the job, of course, but this is radically better than I had been doing on my own.

I do still admire the Chinese Communists who forged steel in their backyards, but I have been helped more by the steel relationships I have forged in the gym and the academy.

I leave it to you to decide how to act in the outside world, but I suggest you hit the gym or the academy and see how life is supposed to be.

Just don't be an asshole, eh?

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